1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to dynamic load bearing composite floor pans for automotive vehicles.
2. Discussion
Plastics may be used in vehicle floor pans. WO 2006/027482 to Perret et al. provides a plastic material that can be used for producing such floor pans. The material is composed of a plastic material and of a reinforcing fiber fabric embedded in the plastic material. The fibers of the fabric and the plastic material are selected in such a manner that when the material is not stressed, the fibers are joined to the material, and that once the material is subjected to a certain level of stress, the fibers separate from the material over a certain length without breaking.
U.S. Pat. Pub. 2007/0114816 to Hoelzel et al. provides an undercarriage liner made of plastic for a vehicle that is detachably attached to an adjacent vehicle chassis. The undercarriage liner, in the form of a sandwich structure, has a lightweight core layer of polypropylene foam or unconsolidated glass-mat-reinforced thermoplastic. The core layer is provided with a thin cover layer of polypropylene fiber-reinforced polypropylene on both sides. The two rigid and high-impact cover layers are each thermally bonded to the core layer.
Composite materials may have multiple layers. U.S. Pat. Pub. 2003/0118806 to Schonebeck provides a composite component for vehicle bodies which has a firm outer skin and a plastic layer expanded in a foaming form against the interior of the outer skin. A reinforcing layer is formed against the interior of the plastic layer which is held at a defined distance in the foaming form by the outer skin.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,087,296 to Porter provides multi-layered composites, laminates and composite joints in which at least one resin-impregnated, fiber-containing layer is joined or laminated to a core layer having a lower flexural modulus or higher elongation at break, higher toughness, or a combination of all or some of these properties.